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MARK MOSCHETTI • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE

Fifty years of Title IX. Thirty years of Washington Husky softball. Twenty-three years of Heather Tarr being an integral part of both.

Zero years of taking any of it for granted.

As Tarr and her team get into what they hope will be yet another in the string of scintillatingly successful seasons, she has never lost her appreciation for the opportunities that have always been there for her, thanks in a big way to that landmark law.

That was true for her as a player and as a coach, particularly at the UW, which has been known for following both the letter and the spirit of Title IX.

“I remember as a student athlete, I never felt unsupported,” Tarr said. “I always felt like … we had every single thing we needed, every resource we needed to compete at the elite level –and that was back 30 years ago.

“We’re into our 30th year, and we still feel the same way,” she continued. “We just built a 4.5-million-dollar indoor performance center for softball. We have every resource we need to compete at the level we want to compete at. Now, it’s just being able to honor that legacy and honor those opportunities and give it our all every single day to each other to honor the past.”

That legacy inevitably is focused on the Women’s College World Series each spring in Oklahoma City. Washington has played on that biggest stage 13 times, although last season ended in the regionals.

“Our goal is to win the last game played in Oklahoma City,” said fifth-year star infielder Baylee Klingler, who essentially was All-Everything in 2022: Pac-12 Player of the Year, Pac-12 Triple Crown winner, first-team All-American, and USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year top-3 finalist, among the numerous honors she collected. “It’s not going to be easy. If we want that to happen, then the sooner we can learn how to collectively win against really good teams, the better.”

Washington did win three of its four games at the season-opening Mark Campbell Invitational in Irvine, Calif., Feb. 9-11, the only loss by a narrow 5-4 count to none other than No. 1 Oklahoma. They also added a 5-2 nonconference victory at Loyola Marymount after the tournament.

In addition to seeing a whole cast of veterans around the infield and outfield, including Klingler and fellow fifth-year players Sami Reynolds and Madison Huskey, Tarr got to see four pitchers at work: seniors Kelley Lynch and Brooke Nelson, freshman Ruby Meylan, and redshirt junior newcomer Lindsay Lopez.

Lynch got 75 innings of action last spring, building a 7-4 record and a 3.55 earned run average. Nelson threw 31 innings with a 5-0 record and a 2.26 ERA.

Joining them are true freshman Ruby Meylan and redshirt junior Lindsay Lopez, a left-handed transfer from Arizona State. Lopez started two of the five games on opening weekend, and Lynch, Nelson, and Meylan got one start apiece.

Graduated, of course, is All-American star Gabbie Plain, who went 20-8 and threw 181 of UW’s 358 innings last spring.

”I think our pitching and the depth of our pitching is really exciting,” Tarr said. “It has been a challenge the last couple years to develop our younger players while we had an ace in the hole with Gabbie Plain. With the little development we’ve been able to provide for Kelley Lynch and Brooke Nelson, that will definitely pay off this year in terms of their experience.

“We have a complete pitching staff: We’ve got a lefty, we’ve got a righty who throws predominantly down in the zone, a righty who throws up in the zone, and a righty who can be a flame thrower,” Tarr added. “We have a lot of different looks.”

Washington has a complete experienced look around the rest of the ballpark, too. Klingler hit .434 with 24 homers and 71 RBIs last year while starting all 55 games. Huskey also started all 55, hitting .309 with 15 homers and 50 RBIs. Reynolds batted .320 with 23 RBIs and was a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen bases while starting all 50 games that she played.

All three of them were part of the recruiting class of 2019, survived the 2020 pandemic shutdown season, and now want to make the most of their fifth and final spring together.

“It has been really cool to see my class from the time we got here, to know, that we’ve grown not only as players but also as women,” Klingler said. “It’s rewarding to look back and kind of acknowledge that we’re in this position now, especially from last year when we learned a lot so we can be in better position to help the younger players kind of navigate what it looks like to be part of this program and be successful.”

Added Tarr, “Their wisdom is our advantage. Baylee’s time on her engine of playing at the USA level, and Sami as well, that should give them and us an extra level of confidence knowing that they’ve pretty much faced every situation that they possibly can, and nothing should overwhelm them.”

A trio of sophomores saw plenty of action as starters last spring: infielders Kinsey Fiedler (50 starts, .237 batting, 11 homers, 26 RBIs), and Rylee Holtorf (35 starts, .228 batting), and catcher/first baseman Olivia Johnson (47 starts, .261 batting, 11 homers, 25 RBIs).

“It’s a unique situation when you return your entire offense,” Tarr said. “We can come in with some veterans, but we also have some bright stars in the mix that were freshmen last year, learning and growing and trying to figure out the game at the highest level. They were coming in with a new look at how they train and how they compete. And now, they have a little bit better outlook of what’s expected of them.”

Tarr believes that blend of savvy experience and youthful exuberance just might the ‘X’ factor that propels the Huskies on another prolonged postseason pursuit.

“The strength of our veteran gals who have been at the College World Series before, and just the eagerness of the freshmen and newcomers to our program — it’s an exciting combination to see the older and younger players come together and merge and make a special, memorable team,” she said.